Every year, neologisms—new words—find their way into our lexicon. In the past two years, fish-head curry and other food terms were added, as was gigil, a Tagalog-derived word for that irresistible urge to pinch or squeeze something incredibly cute, like an adorable puppy or baby. The 2024 phrase of the year was brain rot, a playful, slightly absurd metaphor capturing the sense that consuming too much mindless content can destroy the brain.
The internet is a source of fake news leading to brain rot, and the implications can be profound, manipulating societal views and actions, whether due to bad-state, or non-state actors, and now, irresponsible individuals who find it amusing to cause mischief. I am moved to recall President Reagan’s famous use of a Russian phrase,Doveryai no proveryai (Trust, but verify) during arms negotiations withMikhail Gorbachev, balancing diplomatic trust with strict corroboration. Similarly, I strongly recommend always checking and double-checking potentially impactful views gleaned from the web by referencing several respected sources.
I recently came across the term nomophobia, first coined in 1803 to mean “aversion to or fear of laws or rules”; it now implies fear or anxiety of being without one’s mobile phone (no-mobile-phobia). Have we lost the plot? Are we really creating terms for this? Is this actually a medical problem? And if yes, how?
It drives me crazy when engaged in face-to-face conversation to see the other person using their phone. Not only is it rude, but data contradicts delusional teenagers who maintain they can multitask; they—and we—cannot. Smartphone use stimulates reward centers of the brain and is highly addictive, reduces attention and increases distractibility. There are some real harms that mobile phones cause, and many nonsensical beliefs. Let’s have a look in order of factual basis:
Use during driving represents the greatest health hazard posed by phones, significantly impairing reaction time, situational awareness, and hazard detection. Experimental simulator studies demonstrate that both handheld and hands-free phone conversations reduce driving performance, with reaction time delays comparable to mild alcohol impairment. Epidemiological data consistently shows increased crash risk associated with texting and device manipulation while driving. Among all potential harms associated with mobile phone use, driving distraction represents the most clearly established and preventable public health risk.
Similarly, pilots should keep their phone in their flight bag and not their hand; like any form of cockpit distraction,using phones can have grim consequences. NTSB investigation CEN14FA265 documented a fatal GA accident involving pilot and passenger where phone use (with camera documentation) led to a stall at low altitude. Cockpit distraction during taxiing, including phone use,played a role in 40% of ground incidents such as runway incursions, and on occasion, video evidence revealed the cause. The cockpit should be as sterile as an operating room.
Constant phone use leads to increased stress, impaired self-esteem from social comparison (common with social media), reduced satisfaction with life in general, and “phantom vibration syndrome,” where the user erroneously thinks they felt their phone alerting them to a call.
Mobile phone use, particularly at night, is strongly associated with delayed sleep onset and impaired sleep quality, and it negatively impacts dreaming. This is caused by blue-light suppressing natural melatonin secretion, stimulating emotions and thoughts, as well as assorted pings and dings from notifications. In adolescents, phone use correlates with disturbed mood, reduced academic achievements, and, shockingly, increased suicidal ideation and attempts.
Proven harms caused by prolonged smartphone use include chronic neck and shoulder pain—text neck. Flexing forward while staring at one’s mobile device can lead to excessive load on cervical vertebrae (neck bones), and sometimes the damage requires surgical intervention. Thumbs and wrists are overworked while texting, precipitating inflammation of tendons or irritating the carpal tunnel. One painful inflamed tendon condition affecting the thumb specifically, De Quervain syndrome, has increased with phone use; one study among university students showed a 4.5-fold increase in phone users versus non-users.
Eye strain from computer and phone use triggers headaches, blurred vision, fatigue, and even photophobia, fear of light. One causative element is a reduction in blink rate during screen viewing, leading to dry eye and damage to the cornea.
If not addictive, I do wonder why people take their phones into the bathroom, check their various feeds while having a poop, and then return to their meal. Phones are horribly contaminated by visiting the toilet, and passing your device to those dining with you to share a funny video is sharing something rather less amusing. Phones as a source of diarrhea? Maybe!
Some early studies proposed that mobile phone use led to reduced sperm activity and other parameters associated with fertility, including reduced libido. However, data confirms these are functions of the sedentary and virtual lifestyle that perpetual phone, gaming, and computer use evoke. Surfing the internet is not good exercise; surfing the waves is. Scott Galloway’s recent book, Notes on Being a Man, addresses all the ways excessive reliance on the virtual world of the internet is damaging society and I highly recommend it as a good read.
The fear that phone use causes cancer has been around for a long time. Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as Group 2B, meaning “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” This classification reflects limited evidence of an association between heavy, long-term mobile phone use and certain brain tumors such as glioma and acoustic neuroma. However, rates of these and other tumors have remained essentially flat from the late 1980s(before the era of widespread phone use)to now.Any perceived increase in incidence is attributed to better diagnosis due to improved imaging modalities like MRI.Radiofrequencyfields arenon-ionizing, so they do not damage cells the way that ionizing radiation like X-rays does. For perspective, a Group 2B classification puts phones in the same health risk category as eating pickled vegetables.
What about heat generated by mobile phones, which some maintain is dangerous? While a spicy fish-head curry might generate heartburn, there is no data to demonstrate that your phone is going to heat you in any meaningful or harmful manner.
And 5G? Ignore the man behind the curtain; nothing there to worry about.
We are often advised not to shoot the messenger, and in this regard the phone is the messenger and maybe deserves a mild beating at least. I started this article preaching the need to verify; one recent case illustrates this perfectly. Kate Shemirani, a popular British internet conspiracy commentator and former nurse, tragically lost her 23-year-old daughter, Paloma, in July 2024. But Kate was to blame, encouraging Paloma to refuse medical treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a treatable malignancy with complete cure rates above 80%. Instead, Paloma chose to follow an alternative treatment plan advocated by her mother. This case is remarkable, and seemingly incomprehensible, because Paloma was a Cambridge University graduate, but had spent years being brainwashed by her mother’s baseless theories.
Much of the material on phones may be harmless cat videos that waste time, produce a sore neck and painful hands, erode personality, create distance from loved ones, and disturb your sleep, but some of it is dangerous. Really dangerous.
With all the facts at your fingertips, you can mitigate actual risks by looking at your phone at prescribed times only, deleting social media apps, keeping the phone out of your bedroom, limiting nighttime use, and under no circumstances using it while driving, flying, or talking to another human being! Of course, you could always search for a nice fish-head curry recipe or find a photo to make you feel gigil!
Fly well!
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